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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A message to Eva Longoria: Modeling for ethnic cleansing is not activism

The show "Desperate Housewives" has won the comedic and dramatic actress, Eva Longoria, much acclaim across the US and the world, as her image glows from the box families spend much time facing. And this week, as Western media continued to ignore Israel's gross attack on Gazan civilians, Longoria was off to model something much more older and dull than a Buick. Played by Eva Longoria, Gaby, one of the desperate housewives, has to take up an embarrassing job as a car show model at the mall to make ends meet in an episode that aired during the first season. This week Longoria seemed to be playing a similar role in Israel's misleading peace loving PR campaign, while Israel sent missile kisses to Gaza, exploding in blushes of innocent blood as the actress posed for the cameras.

Earlier this week the TV actress expressed her excitement to meet the all but sexy Israeli arms industry godfather, Shimon Peres . Peres, who was in the Israeli military and is the old Buick cruiser of Israeli "diplomacy"and war tactics, has been trying to uplift his sagging face and old man persona by meeting with the founder of Facebook, Real Madrid, and now Longoria.

While Longoria's tweets came off as naive and characteristically desperate just like her TV character, the Gaza Strip was being bombarded by an airstrike and dozens of Palestinians were killed.

It is with deep shame that Longoria calls herself an "activist," when such photo opportunities are a money maker and have nothing to do with a cause. Longoria epitomizes the American trait of making activism a commodity, not truly exploring the implications of her regretful and ignorant actions. While Gazans remain under Israeli military siege, and Palestine continues to be illegally occupied and gradually ethnically cleansed, Longoria seems to have learned nothing about Palestine.

And if the implied meaning of "global conflicts" follows, it seems that Longoria is pushing the notion that Israel's problems are just petty conflicts, not colonizing, not human rights violations, not the desecration of the natural environment, not the nuclear bombs it holds or its abuse of even African Jews within Israel. No-- to Eva Longoria, these are just conflicts. When the camera is flashing before her pretty face at the same time as bombs are flashing death in Gaza, to Longoria, these are just conflicts.

Your looks cannot disguise the gruesome violations of international law and committed war crimes that paint the face of Israel, Eva. And sadly, for many supporters of justice, you are just a diva that is nothing more but an actress cheaply pawned in the name of bellicose peace.